BRANDT Promotes Dr. Winans to Director of Agronomy
Springfield, Illinois (June 2, 2025) –BRANDT has promoted Eric Winans, Ph.D. to Director of Agronomy in its Discovery & Innovation group. In his new role, Winans will manage a national team of regional agronomy managers, providing technical support on BRANDT specialty products and agronomic expertise for row and specialty crops. He will also continue to oversee the Evelyn Brandt Thomas Ag Innovation Center, a 300-acre research farm in Pleasant Plains, IL.
“Eric is a natural choice for the position as he understands the importance of continued investment into our agronomic teams and to our key customer base. He also has a propensity to best leverage the individual talents within the team,” said Brian Haschemeyer, Vice President of BRANDT Discovery & Innovation.
Winans’ promotion is part of BRANDT’s ongoing strategy to strengthen its agronomic support to its distributor partners and ultimately to growers. Since BRANDT’s restructuring in 2020, the company has focused on building the capabilities of its global Discovery & Innovation function. Today, D&I is responsible for product discovery, field trialing & testing, product registration, field technical support and formulation quality control.
“Eric excels at protocol development and trial management,” explained Haschemeyer. “He will help oversee our research trial budget to support for existing products and play a key role in testing and evaluating new product concepts and technologies.”
Winans is a familiar face within agriculture industry groups, having recently been recognized as an ARA Rising Star at the 2024 ARA Conference & Expo. Winans is a member of the board of directors for Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council (NREC) and he also continues to build his academic standing, often presenting at conferences. He is referenced in various publications from his time at BRANDT and the University of Illinois where he earned his Ph.D. in Crop Sciences in 2022.
About BRANDT
A leading agricultural company, BRANDT serves growers around the globe. Founded in 1953 by Glen Brandt and his sister Evelyn Brandt Thomas to help Illinois farmers adopt new and profitable technologies, the company has experienced aggressive growth under the leadership of President and CEO Rick Brandt. BRANDT’s focus is providing the products and services that give growers the best opportunity for return while building a stronger, healthier and more abundant food supply.
